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Ahh Good ol' Boston. The team that brings out the habs fans insecurities. Habs will win if they stick to playing hockey. If they play Boston's game they will lose.

First time poster here. It's not related to insecurities as much as the fact that every team has to respect itself before actually winning anything. It's not about playing Boston's game or gooning it up. It's about standing up for ourselves and not having our best players being intimidated by guys like Lucic, MacDermid, McQuaid or even Ference.

Having White, Prust, Moen and Bouillon in the lineup sure as hell doesn't make us more physical than Boston. But it makes them answer for their goonery act when they try to intimidate us. A huge part of hockey is mental and involves self-respect.

That being said, I agree that Eller should not be benched for White. Armstrong comes first in the list.

Yes, but during an era where the habs were "softer" than the current team we have now. Habs will lose if they play the Bruins' game.

If White being on the bench makes you feel insecure, they can easily sit Armstrong who's been...disappointing, if I'm putting it nicely.

I love the way debating the use of our 11-12-13th forwards makes me insecure...

My opinion actually has very little to do with White's fighting ability - I agree that you don't want to get into a slugfest with Boston. My problem is that I see Eller having a hard time matching up against Campbell, and I see him morphing into "bad Eller" and taking O zone hooking penalties.

Having Eller play wing on the 4th could work, and then as I mentioned in an earlier post you can switch him with Prust every once in a while when the situation calls for it.

First time poster here. It's not related to insecurities as much as the fact that every team has to respect itself before actually winning anything. It's not about playing Boston's game or gooning it up. It's about standing up for ourselves and not having our best players being intimidated by guys like Lucic, MacDermid, McQuaid or even Ference.

Having White, Prust, Moen and Bouillon in the lineup sure as hell doesn't make us more physical than Boston. But it makes them answer for their goonery act when they try to intimidate us. A huge part of hockey is mental and involves self-respect.

That being said, I agree that Eller should not be benched for White. Armstrong comes first in the list.

Welcome!

I don't disagree with anything you said, but I think there's way too much talk about Boston's 'intimidation' of other teams. The Habs don't seem to notice it and the reality on the ice is that the two teams always play very tight and close games. Win or lose, Montreal rarely gets out-hit, out-played, out-muscled or out-anything by Boston. I can't remember a game against them that was decided by intimidation.

How is a win going to get us more injuries than a loss? I fail to see the logic there. There sure will be bruises as it probably will be quite a physical game. But injuries? Could happen against any team, really. We just have to make sure it doesn't escalate to the point where we're being abused.

I don't disagree with anything you said, but I think there's way too much talk about Boston's 'intimidation' of other teams. The Habs don't seem to notice it and the reality on the ice is that the two teams always play very tight and close games. Win or lose, Montreal rarely gets out-hit, out-played, out-muscled or out-anything by Boston. I can't remember a game against them that was decided by intimidation.

That said, I agree that White is in, Armstrong is out.

Thanks. I personally think the Chara hit on Pacioretty and the game that followed it (I think we lost it 5-1 at the time) helped Boston quite a bit mentally. At the time, our players decided to give up, and Boston showed character through adversity. We didn't respect ourselves, and let's get real, without Cammalleri's 10 points in 7 games and Price great first games, we didn't control that series.

But I can see where you're coming from and I respect your opinion. I just have another point of view on how we have to stand up for ourselves. We can't let the Bruins hit Markov, Pacioretty and Subban and not react.

At some point there has to be a line drawn in the sand and the Habs say enough. Buffalo brought in John Scott to do that and after he took care of Thornton you could tell the Bruins were intimidated. Now we've got Prust, Moen, White, and Bouillon and that's not bad... But I'd like a designated tough guy ala Steve MacIntyre, that will take care of business. Even a Ryane Clowe type would be a big help.

Either way this could be a statement game and I look forward to seeing how the Habs play and respond to the Bruins.

At some point there has to be a line drawn in the sand and the Habs say enough. Buffalo brought in John Scott to do that and after he took care of Thornton you could tell the Bruins were intimidated. Now we've got Prust, Moen, White, and Bouillon and that's not bad... But I'd like a designated tough guy ala Steve MacIntyre, that will take care of business. Even a Ryane Clowe type would be a big help.

Either way this could be a statement game and I look forward to seeing how the Habs play and respond to the Bruins.

Ryane Clowe is one of my favorites player in the game. Can do it all, experienced player who can drop the gloves with the best of them. Great net presence on the PP, and is an absolute pain to play against as a defenseman. Definitely my #1 target this summer along with his teammate Doug Murray. We lack a big body back there to clean the front of the net.

I love the way debating the use of our 11-12-13th forwards makes me insecure...

My opinion actually has very little to do with White's fighting ability - I agree that you don't want to get into a slugfest with Boston. My problem is that I see Eller having a hard time matching up against Campbell, and I see him morphing into "bad Eller" and taking O zone hooking penalties.

Having Eller play wing on the 4th could work, and then as I mentioned in an earlier post you can switch him with Prust every once in a while when the situation calls for it.

Why would Eller have a hard time matching up against Campbell? He hasn't in the past. He didn't even have trouble doing so when he played against the Bruins in the playoffs in his rookie year. You're just making things up.

I love the way debating the use of our 11-12-13th forwards makes me insecure...

My opinion actually has very little to do with White's fighting ability - I agree that you don't want to get into a slugfest with Boston. My problem is that I see Eller having a hard time matching up against Campbell, and I see him morphing into "bad Eller" and taking O zone hooking penalties.

Having Eller play wing on the 4th could work, and then as I mentioned in an earlier post you can switch him with Prust every once in a while when the situation calls for it.